after 35 years of duct work hanging fabricating and delivering i have found that every day or job is tool specific,if you are hanging s and drive ductwork why do u need to carry bull snips drift pin or any tool not needed i to have back problems from years of unnecessary tool cartage use your head for all the young guys out there . i have moved to a carheart nail apron holster for drill hammer hook and tape measure ,and have found i can do black iron kitchen exhaust ,s and drive ,ductmate and tdc all thinking before i climb the ladder ,lift or scaffold i am working on .be smart ask questions and remember u were given 2 ears and 1 mouth so listen twice as much as u speak . i am new to this site and really enjoy all of u guys and girls i hope i have some insight for all BE SAFE and have a good day

after 35 years of duct work hanging fabricating and delivering i have found that every day or job is tool specific,if you are hanging s and drive ductwork why do u need to carry bull snips drift pin or any tool not needed

precisely. i do a lot of work on ships. that is when i leave the torp level in the tool box 8)

I use a single tool pouch and it holds everything I need to hang duct work.. one thing I found is buy a decent leather pouch dont mess around with the lame canvas ones. I linked the pouch I use... I keep a right offset, hand break, screwdriver, torpedo level in the main compartment there is also spare room for my lefts if I need to carry them and a square, the lower pouch is just for zap screws... I keep a drill extension, some other sized drill tips in the pencil holders, the top pouch is for my markers and pencils, and misc drill bits, the middle pouch kinda just holds what ever I need for the job, tdc clip tool, ratchet and a open ended usually if I am doing alot of tdc duct.. I also have a hammer holder and a tape holder separate on my belt as well. Also if I am doing alot of tdc duct I wear a carhart nail apron with nuts and bolts, and clips in it.

I checked out this pouch and it looks real nice. Does the Craftman brand still guarantee there stuff for life? The only thing I've gotten from them in a while is a 16"combo square and a pop rivet gun that the head swivels 360 degrees dupree

when i wasn't a shop guy i used to use an electricians pouch. i would carry
rights
lefts
a large screwdriver (doubles as a drift pin)
tongs
25' tape
marker
9/16 ratchet
i wore my hammer on the left side for a little balance

i used to swap things in and out as needed, like if i was doing drop ins, instead of lefts and tongs, i carried crimpers and a strap gun, putting the straps through my belt loops.
i wore a cheap cloth nail apron to carry screws on one side, rivets on the other as needed.

at some point i learned that in commercial work i could get by carrying less tools on my person if i thought ahead.

I like a single sided pouch with 4 pockets (Edge-scribe and speed-square in the top, tongs and awl one down, tape and chalkline in the front, nails/screws in the big pouch)I keep two separate hammer holders(tinner's and deadblow or long snips)and two separate snip holsters (greens on my left, reds on the right) Flat bar tucked through the belt loop. If I need more than that I keep several small tool bags full of task-specific tools. I do slate and copper together so it's tough to have it all. The single-sided pouch allows me to swing the tools over to one side when comfortable site access dictates.
And yes I have back problems, in fact an x ray shows my pelvis is cocked to one side. Gee, I wonder how that happened?

I have always liked 2 lrg pouches on a wide leather belt with a couple of small ones on the left pouch for screws and nails, the right one is an electricians pouch and I wear the suspenders . I have my rights and lefts, hammer loop separate with a 22 oz Plumb straight tine, t-square and seamers on the left, pencils punch and scribe on the right. I remember moaning and groaning for years about how much Hamlets were. Then I bought a set, Oh man what a nice tool. I've been on jobs where 3 of us had a pair and no 2 were alike. Its like knocking duct together with a framing hammer, then use a sheetmetal hammer and a rivet set. anyway, I never carry my drill in the pouch, too much weight.

A word to the new guys, read how many of these sheetmetal workers have back problems. I carry all the heavy stuff in a 5 gal bucket.

I have been hanging duct for nearly 15 years. I have tried several different tool belts, none were satisfactory until I found the Airlift Builder's Rig, it is the most comnfortable and complete tool belt so far. It comes with padded shoulder straps. The rig has a main pouch on the left with two smaller pouches, I carry 3 types of fasteners there as well as my snips .
There are also a passel of small pocketsfore and aft and around: a torpedoe level, small vise grips, 2 small finger grips, dykes, Milwaukie right angle drill atachment, and my speed square in a special pouch, and a hammer loop.
The right side has 2 big cascading pouches,some real small pouches and loops inside the main pouch: hand seamer, marker, snap blade knife, 25' tape, 10' diameter tape, outlet tester, small flashlight, tape smoother in a slit pouch, medium vise grip, 6" drill extension, caulking tube opener, small vise grip, box cutter, stiff blade scraper, Stanley Mini-Wonder bar, phillips and slot screwdriver, sometimes a voltage ticker. The third pouch changes as needed, a punch or bull dogs, duct puller or whatever. I have other miscellaneous fasteners ion the bottom of this pouch also.
The hammer loop is in back, that took a little getting used to, no problem now.
I added a drill holster with a snapping strap, I carry a phillips magnetic tip, 5/16 and 1/4 nut drivers, all hex ends that fit on my 18 volt impact.
I can't work without it on, I hate making multiple trips up and down the ladder! I have no problems with shoulders or back, no headaches.
the nicest thing about this setup besides the comfort is all the little puoches and loops inside pouches, none of the small tools are laying down they are all in their place and I can find them in the easily without having to fish around and dump it all out.
the rig is under $80 on Amazon's Tool Crib.
Hope somebody finds this helpful.

I have been hanging duct for nearly 15 years. I have tried several different tool belts, none were satisfactory until I found the Airlift Builder's Rig, it is the most comfortable and complete tool belt so far. It comes with padded shoulder straps. The rig has a main pouch on the left with two smaller pouches, I carry 3 types of fasteners there as well as my snips .
There are also a passel of small pockets fore and aft and around: a torpedo level, small vise grips, 2 small finger grips, dikes, Milwaukie right angle drill attachment, and my speed square in a special pouch, and a hammer loop.
The right side has 2 big cascading pouches,some real small pouches and loops inside the main pouch: hand seamer, marker, snap blade knife. In the tape pouch: 25' tape, 10' diameter tape, outlet tester, and small flashlight. Tape smoother in a slit pouch. In the main pouch: medium vise grip, 6" drill extension, caulking tube opener, small vise grip, box cutter, stiff blade scraper, Stanley Mini-Wonder bar, Phillips and slot screwdriver, zip ties, and sometimes a voltage ticker. The third pouch changes as needed, a punch or bull dogs, duct puller, calculator or whatever. I have other miscellaneous fasteners in the bottom of this pouch also. There is also another hammer loop.
The main hammer loop is in the middle of my back, that took a little getting used to, no problem now.
I added a drill holster with a snapping strap, I carry a Phillips magnetic tip, 5/16 and 1/4 nut drivers, all hex ends that fit on my 18 volt impact. I also have a 3 piece step drill bit set from Harbor Freight, they work well.
I can't work without it on, I hate making multiple trips up and down the ladder! I have no problems with shoulders or back, no headaches.
the nicest thing about this setup besides the comfort is all the little pouches and loops inside pouches, none of the small tools are laying down, they are all in their place, standing up, and I can find them easily without having to fish around and dump it all out. I also do not lose tools, since everything has a place, I know if it is missing very quickly.
the rig is under $80 on Amazon's Tool Crib.
Hope somebody finds this helpful.

The Following User Says Thank You to tinman97030 For This Useful Post:

I have been hanging duct for nearly 15 years. I have tried several different tool belts, none were satisfactory until I found the Airlift Builder's Rig, it is the most comfortable and complete tool belt so far. It comes with padded shoulder straps. The rig has a main pouch on the left with two smaller pouches, I carry 3 types of fasteners there as well as my snips .
There are also a passel of small pockets fore and aft and around: a torpedo level, small vise grips, 2 small finger grips, dikes, Milwaukie right angle drill attachment, and my speed square in a special pouch, and a hammer loop.
The right side has 2 big cascading pouches,some real small pouches and loops inside the main pouch: hand seamer, marker, snap blade knife. In the tape pouch: 25' tape, 10' diameter tape, outlet tester, and small flashlight. Tape smoother in a slit pouch. In the main pouch: medium vise grip, 6" drill extension, caulking tube opener, small vise grip, box cutter, stiff blade scraper, Stanley Mini-Wonder bar, Phillips and slot screwdriver, zip ties, and sometimes a voltage ticker. The third pouch changes as needed, a punch or bull dogs, duct puller, calculator or whatever. I have other miscellaneous fasteners in the bottom of this pouch also. There is also another hammer loop.
The main hammer loop is in the middle of my back, that took a little getting used to, no problem now.
I added a drill holster with a snapping strap, I carry a Phillips magnetic tip, 5/16 and 1/4 nut drivers, all hex ends that fit on my 18 volt impact. I also have a 3 piece step drill bit set from Harbor Freight, they work well.
I can't work without it on, I hate making multiple trips up and down the ladder! I have no problems with shoulders or back, no headaches.
the nicest thing about this setup besides the comfort is all the little pouches and loops inside pouches, none of the small tools are laying down, they are all in their place, standing up, and I can find them easily without having to fish around and dump it all out. I also do not lose tools, since everything has a place, I know if it is missing very quickly.
the rig is under $80 on Amazon's Tool Crib.
Hope somebody finds this helpful.